diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/audiofile/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/audiofile/default.nix
index c6d656388d458..f9974e2ca2538 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/audiofile/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/audiofile/default.nix
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   outputs = [ "out" "dev" "man" ];
 
+  # std::unary_function has been removed in c++17
+  makeFlags = [ "CXXFLAGS=-std=c++11" ];
+
   # Even when statically linking, libstdc++.la is put in dependency_libs here,
   # and hence libstdc++.so passed to the linker, just pass -lstdc++ and let the
   # compiler do what it does best.  (libaudiofile.la is a generated file, so we